For those who would like to come to live in Aotearoa New Zealand, the Green Party will ensure that the process of selecting immigrants is fair, reasonable and flexible, and that immigrants are treated with dignity and respect, including, for example, through family reunification and fair employment conditions. The Green Party believes that Aotearoa New Zealand should remain firm in our commitment and humanitarian responsibilities towards international refugees and asylum seekers.
Vision
A progressive immigration system that is humane, fair, practical, sustainable, and sensitive to the requirements and concerns of all migrants as well as tangata whenua and tangata Tiriti.
Values and Principles
- Honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi: The right for non-Māori to live in Aotearoa New Zealand derives from Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Māori, as tangata whenua, should have a partnership role in determining Aotearoa New Zealand's immigration and population policies.
- Ecological Wisdom: Immigration policy should consider sustainable population levels. The effects of overall population growth need to be actively managed and planned for. These effects depend on our environmental footprint per capita and particularly on those people with the largest environmental footprint.
- Social Responsibility: All immigration applicants, migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, should be treated with dignity, compassion and respect in accordance with international conventions on human rights.
- Appropriate Decision-Making: Immigration processes should be open, accountable and responsive. Local communities should be involved in policy decision-making and implementation.
- Non-Violence: All migrants and refugees should be welcomed and included in Aotearoa New Zealand society, such that they feel a sense of belonging. Tolerance, acceptance and understanding is important in a diverse and multicultural society.
- Responsibility: Aotearoa New Zealand should act as a responsible member of the international community. Aotearoa New Zealand is a Pacific nation with a Pacific history and its immigration policies and practices should reflect that.
- Distributed benefits: The positive contributions that migrants make to the social, cultural and economic life of Aotearoa New Zealand should be shared across all regions, not just in the main centres.
Strategic Priorities
The Green Party’s strategic goals include:
“As a Party we strive to create a more connected, compassionate and equal Aotearoa, free from structural biases that discriminate against groups and individuals.
“Comprehensive support for communities and individuals affected (...) by the impacts of climate change within New Zealand and the Pacific will be well established.”
Actions in this policy that will help achieve this include:
- Actively support Māori aspirations for a Tiriti-based immigration system (...). (1.1)
- Advocate for a Pacific Passport to allow for free movement between the islands and Aotearoa. (2.1.1)
- Making specific provision in immigration legislation for people displaced by climate change, based on need. (2.1.3)
- Ensure that immigration policies are impartial in regard to applicants' countries of origin, ethnicities, cultures, age, gender, sexual orientation, and all other prohibited grounds of discrimination. (3.1)
- Increase our refugee quota and the resources required to provide adequate refugee services. (4.1.2)
- Require employers to pay temporary workers no less than local workers, and to provide them with the same working conditions as local workers. (6.10.1)
Connected Policies
Refugees are part of our Pacific-oriented and Human Rights-based approach to Global Affairs and Climate Change. Migrant workers are part of our Workforce and contribute to Business success. Migrants, including international students, must be well-supported in Education and by other public services, such as Health and public Housing.
